When applying to medicine, or later down the line, a doctor job, there are a ton of things that hold us back. Today, let’s talk about a few of those barriers between you and a medical career, and give you ways to smash them to bits!
I promise, by the end of this post you will feel empowered, in control and a little bit more ready to just go for it!
I know I do!
1. Comparison with other students.
This is one that I still struggle with today!
Comparing yourself to others really does rob you of the joy that you could find in your journey.
Comparing your success or progress to others is actually useless here is why:
- Everyone has different starting points, challenges, lucky moments and strengths. Even if two people do end up at the same point in life, it’s unlikely they both took the same route to get there.
- When you compare yourself to others, you point out your weaknesses and compare them to someone else’s strengths. It isn’t even a fair comparison most of the time, so all you are doing is creating a mind block.
This will only stunt your progress even more!
Comparison is not the same as having an inspiration you look up to.
You can look at what people have achieved and how they have done it, taking tips from them along the way.
You don’t have to use their success to demean your own.
On that note, take a look at my last post!
You’ll be surprised how many qualities of a doctor you share and how little you need to compare yourself!
2. Fear of failure.
Think back on something that you are proud of achieving in your life, it could be anything…
Now imagine what would be different in your life had you not just put your hand to it and gave it a go.
One of the barriers between you and a medical career is the crippling fear of something going wrong.
It’s so easy to stay in your comfort zone and stick with what you know you are good at.
Let me tell you something, I for sure don’t learn or grow when I am just sticking to whatever I am comfortable doing. I am sure you don’t either.
When you are next afraid of trying something for fear of failure, write down a list:
- In one column put down all the things that could happen if it went right and you succeeded. This could be anything! Feelings, situations, opportunities
- In another column note the things that would happen if said challenge went wrong.
Compare the two, I promise you most of the time you will see that the little bit of discomfort in trying something new is totally worth it!
3. Imposter syndrome
The Harvard business review describes imposter syndrome as:
Imposter syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. ‘Imposters’ suffer from chronic self-doubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence that override any feelings of success or external proof of their competence.
Harvard business review.
It is something that I think a lot of aspiring medics and medical students go through.
For me, it’s a build-up of all the other points on this list, it feels terrible, as if someone will find out I am a fraud!
I even get it when writing this blog!
Good news is, I have a way to tackle it:
- Capturing your thoughts, I find that the same negative thoughts about my inadequacy tend to invade my head over and over.
One thing I like to do is to write down those thoughts when they come, next to them write down a counter statement.
For example:
‘ I’m going to fail’ – ‘ I have proven that I am capable and will continue to apply myself to achieve success.’
‘ I could never do that’ – ‘ it might take some work but everyone starts somewhere and I believe I can do it.’
By doing this, you stop the thoughts running through your mind spiralling into self-hatred and doubt.
It helps you to remember the reasons why you are taking up space in the first place!
4. Taking rejection and failure personally
A little story, when I was rejected from Manchester for medicine, I felt personally attacked by it.
Although I know better now, at the time it felt like they had discarded me along with all the things I was most proud of.
It took me a few days to pick myself up and realise that rejection is not a person most of the time and there are a few valid reasons outside of yourself for it:
- Limited numbers/ spaces
- Position requires a different skill set
- Timing, someone else got there first.
And so many other reasons too!
Even if the rejection was because of your lack of skill/ experience. There are ways you can use it as feedback onboard without it being an attack at you as a person.
E.g
‘I lacked experience in area XYZ and so that gives me some room to develop in that area.’
This reframing of rejection doesn’t have anything to do with your capacity/ ability as an individual but to do with developing and fulfilling your own potential!
The last of the barriers between you and a medical career is…
5. Lack of preparation
I honestly think that preparation and information is KEY to accessing medical school and the career beyond it.
It’s difficult when you are potentially in a situation where there just isn’t anywhere to access that kind of info. However, there are a few ways to get around this:
- Leave plenty of time- getting into medicine isn’t something you can really do in a few weeks or less. It takes months and months of preparation! Leave yourself lots of time to sort out all the things you need for your application without the rush.
- Get organised- plan ahead and arrange for volunteering/ work experience and other activities to fill out your application. This gives you time to complete each activity and reflect on it well!
- Talk to some people! – My last blog post gave you a ton of online communities that you can join to support you with this application knowledge.
There are so many places where you can get the information you need to understand how to actually land a place at medical school.
That’s all!
I hope that this blog post has resonated with you, and the barriers between you and a medical career have begun to seem a bit less scary!
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